How often to brush a dog's fur?

How often can i brush my dog's fur? My old dog did NOT like it, so he got brushed just as needed, which, luckily, wasn't too often! This dog, Buddy, LOVES to be brushed, and he just gleams afterwards, and feels so soft....i pat him down afterwards with a 'bounce' dryer-sheet, to smooth his hair down and make him smell so nice.

He doesn't shed much, at all, unless he gets nervous, ha, a few hairs come right off immediately!! It's easy to spot, cuz he is two colors, suddenly, i can see a white hair lying loose on his black fur....happens at the vets, or around dogs he doesn't like, etc, = poof, white hairs loose on the black fur!!:dogwacko: LIke a little flag to me: "I'M NOT TOO COMFY WITH THIS HERE!!"

But other than that, Buddy doesn't shed much so far. He'll probably blow his coat out in the spring, but he doesn' 'need' brushing now so much really, he just looks soooo handsome afterwards..

I've heard that too-frequent brushing "opens" the coat, and it is REEEEALLY cold here in the winter, is this true? Would my Buddy be less warm or less water-proof to the snow if he gets brushed too often?

NO! Brushing is great for your dog. Border collies sometimes shed out looots of undercoat, and if you don't brush him enough, this traps water and anything else that gets in there, dries out his skin, etc. Brushing him often is great for his coat and helps keep it and his skin healthy. =) Even if you're only getting a few hairs out, that's still hair that could quickly add up and catch things that might irritate his skin. Using a horsehair brush will help distribute the oils in his fur and make it even softer(this works for you too!). Use a slicker brush on him, and an undercoat rake if he sheds that much. Don't use pin brushes like most stores sell. Slicker brush, slicker brush, slicker brush! =) And a horsehair brush. Lol.

Furminators don't do much at all to my Border Collie, but shedding knives work well. It's just a comb with teeth comparable to the Furminator. It pulls out loose undercoat. Basic combs also work well for my BC. Hope this helps!

I actually use brushing to calm and relax my dogs and do it most nights. So how often can be every night but the correct answer is whatever avoids coat matting or build up so that your dog doesn't have to go through it. At least once a week for a bc would be nice when not shedding, maybe more when shedding. I had a GSD/BC/? mix years ago that rarely needed brushing but she'd get right in line with my Golden for her brushing. If you associate it with pleasant things like massage and pets then they will come to love it and make your job easier.

Be careful with slicker brushes on thinner fun on the belly and under leg areas since it can rub tender skin raw. I always use the softer boar bristle brushes on bellies and they love it on their face like mom licking them. :dogtongue2:

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!! OH, i'm so pleased to know i CAN brush my lil Buddy most every day!! Whew!! We both love it, but i been avoiding doing it more than 2x week cuz i thought i might making him less tolerant of the severe cold and snowblizzards here. IT'S A GOOD THING I EVER FOUND THIS SITE, HUH??:msnohyes:

I don't even know what a "slicker" brush IS, i am learning almost as many words this week as Buddy is!!::msngiggle:

Ey, i finally bought one of these, WOW! What a difference in the shine!! Wow! I get a ton more fur on the bristles than on my old brush i'd been using. (regular human brush) I musta not been getting it all before.
It's not a lot, he doesn't shed much, really, but is lot more than before on the brush.

Kind of off topic but... we have a shorthaired breed that doesn't require any brushing but one night as I was brushing my hair I ran the brush over Feeby's coat. She gave me whale eyes and backed away barking at the brush.. she did NOT like it at ALL.

In lieu of a brushing I give her a massage instead which she will just go la-la over.

I brush my dogs once a week. A slicker brush doesn't get down to the thick undercoat (read: root of all shedding) of a border collie so I rarely use one. I prefer an undercoat rake. It gets all of the dead undercoat out and also works nice to keep the outer coat shiny. I use a slicker brush to get mats and burrs out of fur but that isn't very often. I do have a Furminator and it works awesome on my border collies. The problem is, I hate using it because it requires me to brush for hours and hours...that's how long it'll keep getting hair out for! They work awesome!

Oh, and my shorthaired dog sheds MORE than my longhaired dogs!! I do use the slicker brush on her.

Brushing is really good for dogs to keep them clean and tidy but you just have to understand what type of coat your dog that determines how often you need to refresh and what kind of brush to use. Regular brushing removes excess hair from your dog's coat and reduce significantly the amount of hair so regular brushing is not good for the dog's fur.